Figure toys have historically been items of great commercial appeal. Particularly popular among children are transformative figure toys which include body shape- and/or appearance-changing components which may be selectively manipulated by the child. The shape-changing components may simulate, for example, pregnancy (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,812,613, issued to Glass et. al., and 4,183,171, issued to Terzian); weight gain/loss (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,167,561, issued to Rizzo, and 5,419,729, issued to Gross); maturity (U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,992,807, issued to Sapkus et. al., and 3,995,394, issued to Ayton), and; muscular development (U.S. Pat. No. 3,731,426, issued to Lewis et. al. as well as the aforementioned Gross patent).
It has been noted by the applicant that shape-changing figure toys in the prior art have only been partially successful at simulating muscular growth or development. In particular, these devices fail to accurately depict "muscle definition" wherein the contours of individually defined muscles are visible. In addition, the expansion or muscle growth feature has been largely limited to a specific muscle or muscle group, such as the biceps.
A further disadvantage associated with many of the shape-changing figure toys in the prior art is their utilization of complex mechanical linkages and/or pump-driven devices to achieve the shape-changing function. The inclusion of such mechanisms or devices results in a substantial increase in the manufacturing cost (and consequently the retail price) of the figure toy, thereby adversely affecting its commercial viability.